Memorial Day observances are
a somber start to summer

Once upon a time, the last Monday in May was known as Decoration Day, and families spent it placing flowers on the graves of soldiers who died fighting America's wars. 

Today, it is called Memorial Day and it is known better as the first weekend of summer, although some still spend it honoring those who made the supreme sacrifice in service to their country.

The Grosse Pointe War Memorial's annual observance went off without a hitch under perfect weather that allowed a flyover by the Selfridge Air National Guard.

Featured speaker Capt. Katherine Ann Spicer, one of four Marines in her immediate family, told the crowd that the only honor greater than being a member of the nation's armed forces is being an American, a fact she learned on a fifth-grade trip to Washington, D.C. 

"War is going to be the common thread" throughout American history, she said, and days like Memorial Day are necessary to acknowledge its cost.

"Because you are an American, you have walked among heroes," she said. Spicer served two tours of duty in Iraq, and is currently enrolled in law school on a Marine Corps scholarship. 

Spicer's talk was followed by a reading of 164 names of Grosse Pointe members of the armed forces who died fighting in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. 

In Grosse Pointe Woods, a Memorial Day ceremony was held at the Circle of Honor at Mack and Vernier.

GrossePointeToday.com correspondent Robert E. Patterson shot this video postcard:

Additional images may be viewed at the GrossePointeToday.com photostream at Flickr.

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